Your union has implemented a ban on members taking part in EVOLVE until the Department meets a number of conditions. The PSA demands:
- The Department undertakes genuine consultation with staff and the PSA, the union who represents them, regarding the program’s content and purpose.
- It must demonstrate how the program addresses the practical challenges faced by frontline workers.
- The Department must prioritise action on workload and under-staffing issues, and workplace wellbeing as essential foundations for sustainable reform.
The PSA calls on the Department to co-design any future workforce capability initiative with frontline staff and the PSA to ensure they are relevant, respectful, and capable of delivering meaningful improvements.
The work ban comes after your union surveyed members about the EVOLVE training package.
An overwhelming majority of those surveyed said the program was not useful at all to their daily roles. A similar percentage indicated training took too much time and many members told us they did not feel valued as employees.
Comments from the survey include:
- “There appears to be a significant disconnect between the program’s messages about respect, dignity and psychological safety, and the experience many staff have reported during the change process itself. As a result, the messaging risks being perceived as ‘do as I say, not as I do’.”
- “The course talks about change without referencing any of these changes with any specific information. At times it feels as though staff are being blamed if they are not being flexible and just rolling with the changes.”
- “The content feels like a ‘box ticker’ for-the Department to say it has adequately addressed change with employees in the organisation.”
- “I found the program to be one of the least effective professional initiatives I have participated in during my time at DCJ. Rather than building trust, resilience or engagement, it has contributed to feelings of frustration and disconnection among many staff.”
As such, all PSA members are instructed to not participate or engage in the EVOLVE training program until notified otherwise.